As a mom who has been homeschooling since 1997, I have had my share of life’s little interruptions to our homeschooling routine.
We experienced a period of several deaths in the family, my mother-in-law’s stroke and overseeing her care, a high risk pregnancy with my third child resulting in almost two months of bed rest (including several weeks in the hospital) and a NICU stay for my daughter that lasted for two weeks. My fourth child was then born with Down Syndrome and the AV Canal heart defect which required constant monitoring and open heart surgery when he was two months old.
I made a stressful period even more stressful by wondering if I was doing enough or if I should just cave in and send my daughter to school. I worried if we were doing enough school at home to impress the nurse who spent six weeks at our house after the heart surgery.
Hindsight being 20/20….I shouldn’t have worried.
Even during the most stressful times, my children’s year-end evaluations were fine. We simply try to maintain a lifestyle of learning. Our home is filled with books, crafts and educational videos and educational software. There are chores to be kept up with and meals to prepare.
Learning happens all the time, not necessarily at a table with worksheets. Stresses of life are a character building opportunity to model service, perseverance and faith to our children. They learn to work together and to trust God when the going gets tough.
